Molina to End Its Medicare Advantage Drug Plans on December 31. The Decision Was Announced in February. The Letter Telling Members Arrives in October
Molina told investors in February that a Medicare drug plan serving tens of thousands of members would cease to exist. The members found out in October. Here is what that eight-month silence means for anyone still holding that plan card.
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A Molina Medicare Advantage member opens the mail in early October and finds a nonrenewal notice: her prescription drug plan will not exist on January 1. She has heard nothing all year. The company knew in February. She has weeks to scramble.
On February 5, 2026, Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH | MOH Price Prediction) told investors on its Q4 earnings call that it would exit the traditional MAPD product for 2027. CEO Joe Zubretsky said the product “does not align with our strategic shift to focus exclusively on dual eligible members in Medicare.” The formal member letter, governed by the CMS calendar, does not go out until early October. That is a nearly eight-month gap between the investor update and the member notice.
Who Is Actually Affected
Molina is ending its traditional, non-dual Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans after December 31, 2026. The company is staying in Medicare, keeping its $5 billion dual-eligible Medicare business and continues to pursue new Duals contracts in Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Ohio.
Molina’s 2025 10-K reported that the exiting MAPD contracts covered approximately 117,000 members in 2025, with enrollment expected to fall to about 80,000 during 2026. The exiting product was expected to produce approximately $1 billion in 2026 premium revenue. Dual-eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) sit outside this announced product exit, though individual D-SNP benefits and service areas can still shift annually. If your plan card says D-SNP, verify your exact contract before assuming nothing changes.
Why Wall Street Learned First
Investors receive material strategic decisions when the board approves them. Medicare members receive plan-level notices on the CMS enrollment calendar. Both timetables are legitimate, but the practical gap matters: Molina spent months building 2026 guidance around this exit (management flagged $1 per share of MAPD underperformance baked into 2026 EPS) while the person filling a prescription every month had no obligation to know her plan was ending.
Current coverage remains in force through December 31, 2026. The trap is treating continuous coverage today as evidence that nothing is changing tomorrow.
What the October Letter Means
This goes beyond an Annual Notice of Change that would describe new copays inside a continuing plan. The plan itself is ending. Affected members generally face three choices:
- Enroll in a different Medicare Advantage plan that includes drug coverage.
- Return to Original Medicare and add a standalone Part D plan.
- Return to Original Medicare with Part D and a Medigap policy, if guaranteed-issue rights apply.
Doing nothing usually returns the member to Original Medicare on January 1 without automatically solving prescription coverage, and going 63 straight days without Part D or other creditable drug coverage can trigger a late-enrollment penalty when the member eventually signs up. That penalty is one of several Medicare surprises we mapped in a free guide to the program’s hidden bills, from IRMAA surcharges to coverage gaps. Low-income beneficiaries in Extra Help may be auto-enrolled into a benchmark plan under separate rules.
A plan termination like this typically triggers a Special Enrollment Period and, for members returning to Original Medicare, a federal Medigap guaranteed-issue right, meaning insurers cannot medically underwrite or deny a qualifying Medigap policy applied for within the window. That window is narrow. Miss it and, in most states, future Medigap applications can be denied or rated up for pre-existing conditions.
Replacement Test Every Affected Member Needs
Instead of shopping by monthly premium, compare candidate plans on these four points:
- Every current prescription on the new formulary, at what tier, with what prior-authorization requirements.
- Your doctors, hospital, and preferred pharmacy in-network.
- The medical out-of-pocket maximum, which is what actually caps a bad year.
- Whether returning to Original Medicare opens a Medigap guaranteed-issue window, and the exact date it closes.
The replacement does not have to be another Molina product. The non-renewal letter documents a loss of coverage; it is not a recommendation to stay with the brand.
Three Actions Before December 7
- First, use the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7, to lock in January 1 coverage. Waiting for the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period in January leaves a coverage question open past the deadline that matters.
- Second, run your full drug list through Medicare Plan Finder on Medicare.gov, then call the plan and your prescriber’s office directly to confirm network status. Formulary and network data on aggregator sites lags.
- Third, keep the non-renewal letter. It documents the involuntary loss of coverage that supports Special Enrollment and Medigap guaranteed-issue rights, and you may need to show it.
Molina had seven months to plan for this exit. Once the letter lands, the member has about eight weeks. Use them wisely.
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Gerelyn Terzo is the author of dividend investing handbook "Dividend Investing Strategies: How to Have Your Cake & Eat It Too." A veteran financial journalist, she covers agri-finance for outlets like Global AgInvesting and the broader stock market and personal finance for 24/7 Wall Street. She began at CNBC and later helped launch Fox Business in New York. Gerelyn currently resides in Woodland Park, Colorado and dabbles in nature photography as a hobby.
